7 Best Texas Cities for Dog Owners

Tyler is a content creator and media specialist with a wide range of experience in everything from marketing to film, social media management, radio, and more.

Jun 21 · 4min

It’s pretty easy to find pet-friendly cities throughout the US but as SmartAsset points out, “Southern cities rank towards the bottom.”

But if you start looking state-by-state, you find that Texas is full of cities that are perfectly suitable for your four-legged friends. And of the many cities in Texas, a few stand out as truly great places to own a pup.

In order to identify the best, we looked at a variety of different ranking factors including ease of ownership, pet budget rank, weather, health access, the number of parks and more.

You can find a breakdown of each data point and its source in the Methodology section.

7. Irving

Dog Score: 63

Zumper Pet Apartments: 20

Pet Budget Rank: 66

Outdoor Pet Friendliness Rank: 82

Play Score: 18.4

Pet Health and Wellness Rank: 56

Ease of Owning a Pet Score: 20

Average Rent: $1,152

We start out our countdown with Irving, which falls among the top 50% of Texas cities ranked among the best for pets in the country. A fairly high percentage of pet-friendly apartments along with the wonderful Irving Dog Park and the city’s great Parks Department are just a few of the city’s pup-friendly highlights.

6. San Antonio

Dog Score: 65.46

Zumper Pet Apartments: 22.5

Pet Budget Rank: 14

Outdoor Pet Friendliness Rank: 96

Play Score: 13.125

Pet Health and Wellness Rank: 80

Ease of Owning a Pet Score: 15

Average Rent: $1,068

San Antonio lands at #6 on our list, sporting the highest Pet Budget ranking of the Texas cities considered. Here, you’ll also find a good selection of dog parks and a pretty high percentage of pet-friendly apartments.

5. Lubbock

Dog Score: 65.71

Zumper Pet Apartments: 5

Pet Budget Rank: 24

Outdoor Pet Friendliness Rank: 86

Play Score: 8.75

Pet Health and Wellness Rank: 42

Ease of Owning a Pet Score: 23

Average Rent: $765

Starting our top 5, Lubbock has generally good stats when it comes to pet-friendliness, but it’s high particularly high ease of owning a pet score is what gives it a leg up on the competition. And, while there are some private options, Lubbock is in the process of securing the funds for a public dog park!

3. Garland

Dog Score: 66.97

Zumper Pet Apartments: 15

Pet Budget Rank: 47

Outdoor Pet Friendliness Rank: 72

Play Score: 13.125

Pet Health and Wellness Rank: 52

Ease of Owning a Pet Score: 11

Average Rent: $825

With Garland, no one specific stat stands above the rest, but every component of the city’s pet-friendliness raises it above almost everyone else. And beyond the well-rounded livability for pet owners, Garland is working towards completing construction of its first public dog park which should be completed by late 2017.

2. Austin

Dog Score: 75.05

Zumper Pet Apartments: 25

Pet Budget Rank: 46

Outdoor Pet Friendliness Rank: 79

Play Score: 21

Pet Health and Wellness Rank: 9

Ease of Owning a Pet Score: 27

Average Rent: $1,405

While Austin might have some of the highest rent on the list, it’s the best city for pet-friendly apartments, dog parks, and pet health and wellness. In fact, Austin has enough off-leash dog parks to justify a map be hosted on the city’s website.

1. Plano

Dog Score: 80.99

Zumper Pet Apartment Score: 22.5

Pet Budget Rank: 55

Outdoor Pet Friendliness Rank: 24

Play Score: 13.1

Pet Health and Wellness Rank: 13

Ease of Owning a Pet Score: 26

Average Rent: $1,163

And finally, Plano gets our top spot with the highest Outdoor Pet Friendliness rank, and very high Health & Wellness and Ease of Owning a Pet scores. Plano also offers a wide selection of off-leash dog parks including the wonderful Jack Carter Dog Park.

Methodology

Zumper Pet Apartment (Weight – 15%): Percentage of Zumper listings in each city that are pet-friendly. (Zumper)